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First Post
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- First Post
'Metro In Dino' actor Ali Fazal on his work-life balance: 'I have a lot of fights, I now have a daughter and…'
In an exclusive interview, he spoke about his collaboration with the filmmaker, his favourite films of Dada, as he's fondly called, the importance of work-life balance, and the world of this anthology read more Ali Fazal has been acting for the last 17 years. From 3 idiots that came out in 2009, he went on to act in Hollywood juggernauts, OTT classics, and the recent Mani Ratnam monster called Thug Life. The actor is now gearing up for Anurag Basu's Metro In Dino that releases in cinemas on July 4. In an exclusive interview, he spoke about his collaboration with the filmmaker, his favourite films of Dada, as he's fondly called, the importance of work-life balance, and the world of this anthology drenched in pain and passion, both. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Edited excerpts from the interview The trailer gives a lot and yet it gives away nothing. So what can we expect? I think it's really nicely crafted. Anurag Basu is so good that way. I think you expect what Basu brings to cinema. You can definitely expect interesting narratives. I don't know the rest of them. Because we were all kind of kept in.. these capsules. So these stories are not intertwined? They are intertwined. So you know that you are crossing paths with somebody. I know, because I know they're the actors.. They are known actors. But for instance, I was telling somebody, I've said this before in the interview as a sequence where this car comes at the crossing and I'm running. So, you know, it almost hits me and I just.. That shot is in the trailer as well, I guess. Either way, I sort of bang on the bonnet and I leave. Now, I didn't know that Pankaj Tripathi was sitting in that car and they were shooting this while this was happening. It was so fast. So stuff like that you don't get to know, because he also keeps that unpredictability alive and in his narratives and while shooting also. Anurag Basu is like a master of set design. His production design team is genius. Also, the frames of Basu, be it Metro, be it Gangster, beat Life in a Metro, Barfi Jagga Jasoos and even this film. How would you describe the way he stages a scene and the way his cinematographer, his entire team light up? With the stage is set in his mind, and I think I was again saying this before, if he imagines the camera, because he imagines the movement of the camera as well, I'm assuming. And if he imagines it going through the wall, because some scene is crossing over, then he will make it go through the wall, which means he will create that set. A lot of people don't think like that. You have to, but he'll create a set and be able to merge that into the real surroundings. That's a craft. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Which is your favourite Anurag Basu film? I mean, the musicality of Jagga Jasoos, I thought it was unmatched. Just the format that he tried to pull off. It didn't work. That's another thing. if I may confess, I fell in love with Kites while watching it. A lot of actors who have worked with him have said that he improvises a lot. He creates situations on the set. How do you describe your experience and what is the importance of improvisation for an actor? I think the improvisations are the hardest. Not because somebody can't do them, but because Basu is good at giving you a daira that you cannot cross. They are going to be giving you the map. And then he'll throw in a clue. It's almost like throwing in another animal that you can't see. but you are going to react to that. No matter what you do. You take the same line, but it'll land differently because now he's thrown another clue. He lets you make your own choices. He lets you breathe, he lets you bring your A game and then move around with it. So and when you're wrong and when you're off, he'll tell you. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Your bit with Fatima as going by the trailer, has a lot of energy and emotional depth. Who are these two people? They are working class people. And that's it. That's where the depth comes in. Post the pandemic what I have seen is that a lot of filmmakers are following the crowd. They are making mass movies and action movies. So as soon as you see anything related to Metro, you feel like this is a breath of fresh air. So what is the importance for you as an actor not to follow the crowd and create your own path when it comes to your choices? Wow. I mean, aren't we all in some way or form, right? I have something that you don't, that's the basis of everything in the world. Just the range varies and that's how we are separate from each other. I think I'm trying to make choices. I haven't been in the theatres in a while. So for me, coming back this way is probably the safest way. I have the cushioning of so many great actors along with me and a great director. So I'm not going to complain. I think I'm good hands. Either way, I think his narratives are very nice and and relatable. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD You have been working as an actor in the film industry for the last 17 years, you have ruled the OTT space, you have made a name for yourself in Hollywood as an actor. When you are working so much, what is the importance for you when it comes to your work life balance? I try, but you know, I think balancing stuff outside the country and within gets a little hard for me. I have a lot of fights. And a lot of people are not really happy with you. But I have to. I have no other choice because I don't know how to navigate. I'm still learning. But I think now recently, in the last like one year, my time management has been a new thing because I'm now on the schedule of my daughter. So I have a good reason to just shut up and say, hey, you know, I got to stop work now. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What has been your one takeaway for you from Metro In Dino? One of the biggest learnings, I think, has been on a personal level, I said this before. I've learned the most important things for an actor, is just to be able to think on your feet and two people have helped me in that- Anurag Basu and Tigmanshu Dhulia. I did Milan Talkies with him that didn't work, but that's not the point. My journey with him and Anurag Basu has been very similar that way. I think I always cherish them.
Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Alfred Brendel obituary: legendary pianist with an anarchic spirit
'Does classical music have to be entirely serious?' was the title of a lecture that Alfred Brendel gave at Darwin College, Cambridge, in 1984. It was a startling choice of subject for a man who was widely considered to be the most serious pianist of modern times, yet it served to illuminate the many layers and great depth of a musician who received little formal training but delivered remarkable insights through his performances. While he looked like a highbrow professor, spoke with a thick Austrian accent and performed concerts that could on paper appear devoid of any light relief, Brendel was a man with a quirky personality who loved life in all its seriousness and absurdity, wrote nonsense poetry, was inspired by the Dada art movement and collected kitsch at his home in Hampstead, north London. Brendel could have excelled as a poet, painter or author; indeed, he achieved success in — and drew inspiration from — all these fields. Instead he became a colossus of the piano, striding across the concert platforms of the world with a determined sense of purpose. He had come to prominence slowly, almost as if by stealth. He had no burning ambition to be famous, but in his mid-twenties decided that he wanted to be a pianist of stature by the time he was 50 — and thought that he probably had the potential to achieve that aim. Even with such far-sighted vision, he seemed to progress only gradually at the start of his career, leaving him wondering if something was wrong with him or with almost everybody else in the profession. There was no list of regular famous chamber music partners from his early days and, astonishingly, there were two years in his early twenties when he did not even own a piano, and played only occasionally when visiting friends. Yet where a pianist such as Vladimir Horowitz had two topics of conversation, the piano and himself, Brendel had his vast hinterland — coupled with his anarchic spirit — to fall back on during difficult times. Brendel was unusually tall for a pianist, to the point of having a gangly deportment, and often suffered from back problems. He had an individual sense of style and was never seen without his trademark heavy spectacles, while his high forehead was accentuated by a central raft of wayward hair. His facial grimaces in performance were legendary, although they would break out in a toothy smile as he acknowledged the audience's applause. His frequently bandaged fingers paid tribute to the dedication of his practice. He was largely self-taught, listening to tapes and recordings of his own playing and that of musicians he respected — this appreciation of others was a continuum throughout his life and his writings constantly acknowledged the influence on his own interpretations of conductors such as Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Otto Klemperer, and the baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (with whom Brendel made three recordings). They showed him that playing the piano was a matter of turning the piano into an orchestra or a singer and only rarely letting the instrument speak for itself. He grew up in an age in which an artist would choose between the classical tradition of Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert, or the more pyrotechnical world of Chopin. He made one recording of the latter and thereafter stuck resolutely to the former, although Liszt's highly excitable music continued to feature — to the extent that as recently as October 2016 he was demonstrating passages from the composer's great Sonata in B minor during a lecture at Kings Place in London. He loved playing Bach, but regretted never learning the Goldberg Variations. He also had a passionate interest in Busoni, whose music (notably the opera Doktor Faust) he championed, and Schoenberg, whose piano concerto was the only 20th-century work that he regularly performed, recording it as early as 1957. Brendel came to attention through his early recordings in the 1950s, notably Prokofiev's Fifth Piano Concerto, and by 1959 he had embarked on the first recording by any pianist of Beethoven's complete piano works for Vox-Turnabout. Curiously, his work on the 32 sonatas was concluded on his 32nd birthday in 1963 — he recalled that it was a cold winter morning in a dilapidated Viennese mansion, with the logs in the fireplace crackling so loudly that they had to throw them out of the window into the snow before the recording could proceed. By the 1990s, when Brendel recorded the Beethoven sonatas for a third time, recording facilities had improved somewhat. Despite his success on disc, for many years his relationship with concert audiences was strained and characterised by a mutual wariness. In part, he made little effort to endear himself to them, but they also took a long time to identify with the depth of his intellect. One American critic wrote of coming away from a Brendel performance 'greatly enlightened as to the music's sinews, but unwarmed by its flesh'. His technique was meticulous, bending the final joint of his finger as it touched the key to achieve the perfect pianissimo. Yet some of his fellow pianists questioned his respect for the instrument. Daniel Barenboim once told Alan Rusbridger, who at the time was the editor of The Guardian: 'He's a great, great pianist, a towering intellect and a wonderful humanist — but he f***s up pianos.' Brendel was regularly seen in the audience of London's concert halls, as well as its theatres and opera houses. He took a keen interest in new music and would encourage young players to look at, for example, the études by Ligeti. He also admired Harrison Birtwistle (obituary, April 18, 2022) and Gyorgy Kurtag, although he never contemplated learning any of their music. Unlike many performers, Brendel did not continue until he dropped dead, nor did his career fizzle out as the deprivations of old age took their toll. Instead he stopped giving concerts at a time and place of his own choosing — the Musikverein in Vienna in December 2008. It was preceded by a final concert in London with the Philharmonia and Charles Mackerras in October that year. Characteristically, he avoided a flamboyant farewell, performing one of Mozart's deepest and most mysterious early piano concertos: No 9 in E flat (K271). 'It was utterly unshowy yet mesmerisingly elegant and nimble; devoid of affectation yet packed with nuances that suggested a teeming inner emotional world,' wrote Richard Morrison in The Times, adding that the work's Viennese minuet 'was even more remarkably delivered: almost a recollection of how Brendel's immense personal journey had begun'. That journey had started in 1931 in Wiesenberg, northern Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic), where Alfred Brendel was born of Austrian, German, Italian and Czech descent. He was no prodigy. There was very little music in the house and much of his peripatetic childhood was spent following his father, Albert, a Nazi sympathiser, through various occupations — architectural engineer, businessman, resort manager — around Yugoslavia and Austria. As he would often say: 'I was not a child prodigy or eastern European or Jewish as far as I know. I'm not a good sight-reader, I don't have a phenomenal memory and I didn't come from a musical family, an artistic family or an intellectual family. I had loving parents, but I had to find things out for myself.' On Krk, an Adriatic island, he encountered what he called more 'elevated' music. 'I operated the record player, which I wound up and put on the records for the guests of the local hotel, which were operetta, and I sang along and found it to be rather easy.' He was six when his father became director of a cinema in Zagreb, where Alfred was enthralled by the movies of Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. Here he made his first stage appearance — as a sabre-rattling general, complete with fez, in a children's play at Zagreb's opera house. He also had his own phonograph and became interested in the new pop music coming out of Berlin. His normally serious-minded mother, Ida (née Wieltschnig), unwittingly inspired a lifetime of devotion to inspired nonsense, including the poetry of Lear and the art of Dada, when she read him the words of one of those pop songs: 'I tear out one of my eyelashes, and I stab you, then I take a lipstick and paint you red.' During the war one of his aunts was shot as a partisan and Alfred was sent to dig trenches. He suffered from frostbite and was taken to hospital, from where he was rescued by his mother. Later he spoke of how fortunate he was never to have joined an army, his wartime experiences having left him a permanent sceptic. 'The experience of war, bombs, people proud to be political 'believers', the preposterous voices of Hitler and Goebbels on the radio, the sight of Jews wearing yellow stars and the experience of a war closing in on where I stayed with my mother left a store of information in my memory, information that told me in hindsight what the world should avoid being.' Afterwards the family settled near Graz, where his father, who entertained his children and later his grandchildren with conjuring tricks, now worked in a department store. Alfred entered the Graz Conservatory. By the age of 16 his formal training, bar attending a handful of masterclasses with Edwin Fischer and Eduard Steuermann, was over. Instead he recorded himself playing using a ReVox tape-recorder, listening to his performance and self-correcting. 'I still think that for young people today this is a very good way to get on,' he said in later life, 'and it makes some of the functions of a teacher obsolete.' However, he still thought that he would become a painter. He gave his first public recital in Graz at the age of 17. It consisted of only piano works containing fugues, one of which he had written himself. A year or so later his watercolours were exhibited in a one-man show in the city. When he went back to Graz in 1998 while making a television documentary he was astonished to find that his paintings had not been destroyed. However, his career was probably determined when he entered the Busoni competition in Bolzano, Italy, in 1949. He placed only fourth, but his prospects were sufficiently encouraged that he decided to pursue the piano above all else. The next year he moved to Vienna to escape his mother's disappointment that he had not studied for a degree. His first concert review in The Times came in 1958 for a concert in London at the Wigmore Hall, in which, as well as some Schoenberg and a group of pieces from Parthenia, he performed Liszt's Sonata in B minor and Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata. After pointing out some minor infelicitations, the anonymous critic concluded: 'His performance was miles above the average account of [Liszt's] elusive masterpiece; it was brilliant and heartfelt and rhetorically acute.' In 1960 Brendel married Iris Heymann-Gonzala, an Argentinian who studied singing in Vienna and later became a potter. They had a daughter, Doris, who became the lead singer of the band the Violet Hour before developing a solo career. They divorced in 1971 and Iris died in 1977; according to Doris, she 'never really recovered from my father divorcing her'. Brendel then made his home in London where, in 1975, he married Irene Semler (known as Reni), a former model who worked for a German television company in Britain. He and Irene had three children: Katharina, a marketing manager; Sophie, who works at the V&A and Adrian, who became a professional cellist, occasionally appearing with his father. During the 1950s and 1960s Brendel's career progressed slowly — often not helped by the highbrow nature of many of his programmes, including lengthy Beethoven cycles. 'Looking back on it now,' he said in 1969, 'I feel that it may have been good for me that I got off to a slow start. It gave me more time to work on big repertory and to develop as a human being.' By the end of the 1970s he was being increasingly recognised and appreciated beyond the piano cognoscenti. In 1983 The Times devoted an editorial to his Beethoven cycle in London, declaring: 'It seems as if the intellectual musical life of the city has been concentrated for a brief span into this recreation of Beethoven's exploration of the human condition.' Thereafter a Brendel concert was one of the hottest tickets in town. Meanwhile he became a familiar figure in the literary salons of London and would stride briskly across Hampstead Heath, carefully wrapped in a coat, woolly muffler, gloves and a beret in winter, like Beethoven on his regular afternoon walks in the Wienerwald. He also kept a countryside retreat in the depths of Hardy country in Dorset, where he would swim serenely in an indoor pool. He was never remotely complacent about his achievements, continuing to study and perform his beloved classics, forever believing in the possible development of his potential, musically and technically. He refused to think of himself as a teacher, but worked with some of the most talented of the next and subsequent generation of pianists, including Imogen Cooper, Paul Lewis and Till Fellner, with Lewis describing their sessions as 'more musical than specifically pianistic'. Cooper told how on one occasion 'we spent a full 20 minutes working on a single chord in a late Schubert sonata, he with demonic intensity, I with a kind of rigid terror until I got it exactly right'. Although Brendel well understood the difficulty of speaking and writing about music — explaining that the real message was in the performance — he published several perceptive books of essays on music, musicians and the peculiarities of the pianistic trade, and regularly contributed articles to periodicals such as The New York Review of Books. Poetry first came to him on a flight to Japan when a poem 'emerged' about a pianist growing an extra finger so that he could point at and 'expose an obstinate cougher in the hall' as well as 'beckoning to the lady in the third row'. He was awarded an honorary KBE in 1989, and in 2010 won Gramophone magazine's lifetime achievement award. He was one of only a handful of pianists to be made an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic. After retiring from the concert platform Brendel continued to be as busy as ever, particularly giving illustrated lectures. These could be very dry and required immense powers of concentration on the part of his audience, but rarely could he resist turning to the keyboard to illustrate a passage, giving younger audiences who perhaps had never heard him live the opportunity to savour a sample of an artist from an earlier generation. Retirement was not all plain sailing, however. 'What I didn't foresee were the physical annoyances of old age, of which the breakdown of my hearing was the most inconvenient,' he wrote in January 2016. Brendel was an artist with greater charm in private than in public, who seemed an unlikely superstar in an age that often favoured dazzle and bravura over gravitas and determination. He could be nervous, jittery even. Being neither a perfectionist nor a virtuoso, he had to fight for each piece. However, his strength came directly from that struggle. Nevertheless, in his continual search for musical truth he never heard a performance that completely satisfied him, and never played one that completely satisfied him either. In keeping with his love of the absurd and, in a sense, answering his own question about whether or not classical music should be serious, he enjoyed pointing out that the word 'listen' is an anagram of 'silent'. Alfred Brendel, pianist, was born on January 5, 1931. He died on June 17, 2025, aged 94
GMA Network
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Marian Rivera to Dingdong Dantes: 'You're destined to be the best husband and father'
Marian Rivera posted a special Father's Day greeting for her husband, Dingdong Dantes. On TikTok, the Kapuso Primetime Queen looked back on their journey together as a couple and then as a family. Marian shared a video with clips from their engagement, wedding, her pregnancies, and then with their children. "From our sweet beginnings to our beautiful family of four, I know you're destined to be the best husband and father," she wrote. "Thank you for being you!" she added. "We love you, Dada!" In 2012, Dingdong proposed to Marian on national TV. Two years later, they tied the knot. To mark their 10th wedding anniversary last December, DongYan renewed their vows in a church ceremony, along with their kids Zia and Sixto. Happy Father's Day, Dingdong! @marianrivera ? Happy Father's Day Mahal ko! From our sweet beginnings to our beautiful family of four, I know you're destined to be the best husband and father. Thank you for being you! ???? May the Lord bless and protect you and our family. This wonderful journey is all for Him! We Love you Dada! ♥?♥?♥? ? You'll Be in My Heart - NIKI —Hermes Joy Tunac/MGP, GMA Integrated News
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Navya Nair meets Sourav Ganguly in London; Shuts down troll questioning her cricket fandom - ‘I used to be a huge fan'
(Picture Courtesy: Facebook) Actress and classical dancer Navya Nair recently took to Instagram to share a heartfelt moment from her London vacation — a chance meeting with cricket legend Sourav Ganguly. Navya's fangirl moment with 'Dada' goes viral The actress posted a candid photo with the former Indian captain and captioned it with nostalgia, "Still feels surreal! Met the one and only Saurav Ganguly during my London vacation. From being a schoolgirl cheering for Dada on TV to sharing a moment in person — some memories stay etched forever... Legend @souravganguly." Troll tries to question her fandom However, amid the love and admiration, one user attempted to question the authenticity of Navya's admiration for Ganguly. The comment read, 'ക്യാപ്ഷൻ ഒക്കെ എന്ത്… dada ക്ക് വേണ്ടി cheer ചെയ്തു എന്നൊക്കെ എന്നിട്ട് ഇന്നേവരെ ഒരു cricket relative story പോലും ഇട്ടട്ടില്ല. വെറുതെ ഇങ്ങനെ….' (Translation: "What kind of caption is that… saying you cheered for Dada and all And till now, you haven't even posted a single cricket-related story. Simply doing all this.") Navya responds - Long ago, I used to be a huge fan Navya, known for her grounded personality, chose to respond with grace and a hint of nostalgia. She replied directly to the troll, saying, 'Pandu valya fan aarunnedo .. eppo aarem ariyilla .. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với sàn môi giới tin cậy IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo njan okke high school padikkumbo .. endina ethokke thallanda kaaryam? Njangalde time il cricketers inde cheriya card collection undaarunnu .. he used to be my fav.' (Translation: "Long ago, I used to be a huge fan… but now I am unfamiliar with most players. I was still in high school back then. Why would I talk much highly about that now? Back in our time, we used to collect small cricketer cards… he used to be my favourite.") On the work front, Navya Nair was last seen in the drama-comedy film 'Janaki Jaane'.
Indian Express
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Vidya Balan says Vidhu Vinod Chopra cast her as Parineeta after seeing anger in her eyes, thought she was giving him gaali: Parineeta turns 20
Over two decades ago, Vidya Balan was at an Enrique Iglesias concert in Mumbai when she got a call from producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra. He said he wouldn't wait till the concert was over and instructed her to walk out. When an irritated Vidya complied, she heard the words, 'You are my Parineeta,' as Hero played in the background. 'I can be your hero, baby' has been Vidya's motto ever since, as the actor has headlined films at a time when her contemporaries were happy playing the second fiddle. In fact, she's the first female actor after Dimple Kapadia (Bobby, 1975) who was launched into the movies as the titular character. 'I'm not complaining,' she says, laughing, in an exclusive interview with SCREEN on the 20-year anniversary of her debut film, late Pradeep Sarkar's 2005 period romance Parineeta. Pradeep Sarkar had worked with you on three music videos before he launched you in his directorial debut Parineeta. He was your mentor, and wrote the script with you in mind. Did you feel then your debut would be a cakewalk? I didn't know how it worked. I didn't come from the business. I didn't have any friends here who could tell me the producer also had a say. I didn't know what the role of a producer is, besides putting in the money. Studios were new at that time, so I didn't know what their contribution was. In Dada's very first meeting with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, he told him, 'I want to cast a star. it's the title role. Are you crazy? You want to cast a newcomer?' So Dada came back to the office. We were one big team and we had this shared dream. So when he told me, I was heartbroken, but I didn't let him see that. I told him, 'If you're going to make the film you wanted, you should go ahead.' Then I came out of the office and cried. It came so close, and it's not happening again! They spoke to a lot of actors. They showed great interest, but Dada wasn't convinced. And Vinod Chopra is also a director, right? He understood Dada's conviction and said, 'Okay, I'll give you a chance to audition her.' You gave quite a few auditions then. Did you get frustrated of why Vinod Chopra can't see what Pradeep Sarkar did in you? No, I didn't. As a matter of fact, I had gone through a spate of rejections in the South, where I'd signed the films and then they didn't materialize. So I thought maybe this isn't going to work out for me. But with every audition, I was giving my best. It's rubbish that I gave some 40 auditions and 17 makeup trials. That's far from true. There were three or four tests. But I was a bit frustrated because at one point, they wanted to do a modern take on Parineeta so we did a scene in that setup. Then they said they wanted to see it in a traditional setup. And Saif Ali Khan was also there because they wanted to see our chemistry. He had just had Hum Tum (2004) so it was amazing Saif did this. They even got me to do a lip-sync test. Then they changed the hairstyle. Then Binod Pradhan, the cinematographer, came to me and said, 'I've shot you in so many ad films. When the camera comes on, you always enjoy yourself. But I'm not seeing that enjoyment in you. You're not being yourself. Forget about it, film hui ki nahi hui, you just enjoy yourself. Baki dekha jayega. And actually in that test, I did that and that was the clincher. So I'll always be grateful to Binod Pradhan for saying that to me at the right time. Have you asked Vinod Chopra after that what was the clincher for him? The first shot of Parineeta has me turn into the camera and the title appears. We were trying to do that shot for the audition because they wanted an indescribable emotion there. I was so frustrated by then because it wasn't just Parineeta, but also three years of not working before that. I'd reached my wit's end. Vinod Chopra said he saw anger in my eyes in that shot. He said, 'Tu mujhe gaali de rahi thi, mujhe dikh raha tha' (laughs). That's not true, but my frustration and anger would've shown. That's the reason he gave me the part. I believe Saif was also not convinced of a newcomer being cast opposite him initially. Did you feel that while working with him? I was just happy Saif and Sanju (Sanjay Dutt) agreed to do the film with me finally, whatever their reasons. But I have to say Saif and I didn't have any conversations on that film. We hardly spoke with each other. Also, Saif was going through some personal stuff then (divorce with Amrita Singh) so he was preoccupied between takes. It's not like we struck a friendship. I think maybe that also helped the chemistry in the film. I've said a million times, and I'll say it a million times again, when I say superstar, for me, it means Sanjay Dutt. He's just larger than life. He's just so wonderful, I absolutely love him. Is there anything common between you and your character Lalita? The fact that she's very patient (laughs). I don't know if I'm as patient 20 years since, but at that time, I was definitely a very patient person considering all that I was going through. I've got a lot of resilience in me. And when I love, I love deeply. How much do you miss Pradeep Sarkar today? He was my mentor in every way. I never thought he'd not be around for the 20th anniversary! It's crazy when you think of it. He went very young. I feel angry and frustrated sometimes because he would never took care of his health. His wife kept doing her best to keep him healthy, but there's only so much one can do, right? But he was so obsessed with his work. Parineeta also established your image as a deeply rooted Indian actor. Had they gone ahead with the modern take, do you think your career would have shaped differently? I don't know if it'd have been different, but I like the path my career took and the kind of work I got. I played an author-backed role in my first film, that's a big deal! For someone who doesn't belong to this business, I got the opportunity to do this! So they saw what I could do with that. I may not have gotten the opportunities I did had I started any other way. Also, at heart, I'm most comfortable being an Indian. I don't know how to describe that adequately, but I romanticize everything that's Indian. So I'm very glad they went that route. I love the way the women dressed in that era, in the 1960s. We didn't see being feminine and sensual as being weak in cinema at that time. I was getting to explore that. Since it was a love story, and I was being wooed by two men, they had to really make me look my best. Every strain in Parineeta is like a painting. Since you got such a grand debut, did you struggle with sustaining your momentum post Parineeta? Not at all! I had Lage Raho Munna Bhai, which was a massive success. I did seven films in the next two years. I worked with some of the biggest filmmakers — Mani Ratnam (Guru, 2007), Nikkhil Advani (Salaam-E-Ishq, 2007), Rajkumar Santoshi (Halla Bol, 2008). I was working with some big actors and banners. I was over the moon! I also got substantial parts. Some of those films worked, some didn't, but I was still receiving a lot of love. Then in 2007-08, I realized I needed to now take the next leap in my career. I don't think it was a conscious decision, but I responded to the opportunity that came my way. When Ishqiya (2010) happened, I jumped into it head long. I really enjoyed it. And that pretty much set the tone for the rest of my career. In these 20 years, what have you learnt about how the film industry works? And what have you learnt about yourself? I remember Siddharth (Roy Kapur, producer, husband) told me a few years ago, and it struck me that it's so true. The film industry is the most accepting of places. It doesn't matter what your religious belief or sexuality is, where you live, what you eat, what the colour of your skin is, or the size of your waist is. Nothing matters. It's a place of equal opportunity. I hope we never lose that and become a political place. We're above that. I know people talk about nepotism, but that's not been my reality. If you let something affect you, it will. I have come to love and accept myself the way more and more with each passing day and year. I don't have to try to be anyone else, but myself. There were a few years where I was at my biggest, and I was still playing the lead in films. So this really is a place that doesn't discriminate. What's the ambition for the next 20 years? I just want to do out-and-out entertainers right now. That's my current state of mind. I don't know main kal kya bolungi. But for the past couple of years, I've been feeling I want to have fun while telling stories. Every two years, that state of mind changes and that dictates the kind of genres I do. Is this because of the success of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3? I think Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 happened because I was feeling this way. Also Read — Anil Kapoor on 10 years of Dil Dhadakne Do: 'My son Harshvardhan Kapoor convinced me to play Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra's father' Finally, do you think today, a female actor can be launched as the titular character by a big production house with a theatrical release? Oh, absolutely. That's hugely possible. It's just that we're going through a tough time at this point because a lot of films haven't been working. But I do think it's a phase. And we should use this phase to rediscover ourselves and the kind of stories we're telling and how we're telling them. But there will come a time when we'll make all kinds of movies. The theatre-going experience is not going anywhere.
